The Business Continuity Planning Objective (Hint: It’s not to implement the BCP Methodology)

So, I was recently helping a colleague prepare a management presentation to discuss her plans for advancing the business continuity program in her company. Maybe it’s just a matter of semantics, but we had a lengthy discussion over “objectives”, “goals” and “tasks”.

If you have read any of my recent blogs you might recognize a pattern in which I think business continuity planners have become victims of our own methodology. This discussion helped me to emphasize that point. When I suggested to my colleague that she should first succinctly define her objective, she merely listed the steps of the methodology. I strongly disagree.

A business continuity planner’s objective is not to complete the BCP methodology. The methodology is simply a recipe towards achieving an end. What is that “end” you hope to achieve? That “end” is your ultimate objective.